Players ready for rivalry game against Boilermakers

It isn’t their first rivalry game. Kentucky has already been to Assembly Hall this season.
 
It isn’t their first game against a ranked opponent, as the aforementioned Wildcats have also taken on the Hoosiers.

But when No. 8 Purdue comes to town tonight, it won’t be like any other game this season.

After losing 72-70 at Illinois on Saturday, the Hoosiers won’t have it any easier competing against a team that is fourth in the Big Ten and has been in the Top 25 all season.

But at least they’ll enter an arena full of fans waiting to support them.

“I would say that our guys are really excited to be playing their first Purdue-Indiana game inside of Assembly Hall,” IU coach Tom Crean said. “We’ve had a very good week of practice, and we’ve bounced back from a very tough loss in the sense of
having great spirit, energy, enthusiasm.”

Possibly the most excited out of the all the players is freshman guard Jordan Hulls, a Bloomington native. 

Because he grew up in town, Hulls said he understands the rivalry between the two schools is one of the most fierce and long-standing in the country. Purdue currently leads the rivalry at 108-84, but have only won three of the past 10 and seven of the past 20.

Last year the Hoosiers and Boilermakers only met once in the regular season in West Lafayette, a game that Purdue won 81-67. 

In fact, the last time Purdue won in Bloomington was more than ten years ago – on
Feb. 9, 1999.

Back then, coaches Bobby Knight and Gene Keady were in charge of the respective programs. Since Knight and Keady have both left college basketball, the two schools aren’t as successful as they were back in the heyday. But the rivalry is still there.

“We all know how big a rival this is and I’m sure the guys on Purdue know that as well,” Hulls said, “so it’s going to be a great matchup and it should be a good game.”

But history isn’t an predictor of current events. The Hoosiers have lost three of the past five and hold a 3-5 record in the conference. The Boilermakers are 18-3 overall and 6-3 in the conference.

While Hulls was hesitant to share some of the honest feelings on Purdue, freshman forward Derek Elston said he could understand the heated nature of the rivalry.

“I wouldn’t say hate. I could definitely say I don’t like them,” Elston said. “I haven’t been here for a while, but I’ve been around Indiana long enough my whole life to know that if you go to Indiana, you just don’t like Purdue.”